Motor Codes Ltd, has appointed the first chairman of its Independent Compliance Assessment Panel (ICAP) and is delighted to announce that Alec Murray, former chairman of the Retail Motor Industry Federation and long-term servant to the motor industry, will take charge of the panel for its first year of operation.

“I am proud to be the first chairman of this important group – a key mechanism of the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair. The decisions made by the panel will demonstrate that this Code actually has teeth and operates to the standards expected by Motor Codes and, importantly, the Office of Fair Trading,” said Alec Murray. “It will be interesting to see how these independent volunteers view our sector’s performance and I look forward to taking an active part in the discussions that will follow.”

ICAP fulfils the important monitoring, compliance and sanctioning elements of code operations required by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). It will meet on a quarterly basis to assess the performance of subscribers and review the content and operation of the Code and its operating structures and processes. Along with the chairman, each ICAP meeting will call upon the services of four individuals selected from the ICAP pool – a group of individuals who have agreed to assist with the process on a voluntary basis from the motor industry, as well as individuals from the consumer lobby, advisory services and the broader business world.

Motor Codes director Chris Mason said: “I am delighted that Alec has agreed to steer ICAP through its first year and set the standard by which all operations of the new Code will be monitored. Alec has been a consistent and vocal supporter of the Code and this relatively new approach to self-regulation and I am keen to help him in this challenging role.”

The report from each meeting, including details of all monitoring and sanctions imposed, will be readily available via the public report, which will also form the core of evidence supplied to the OFT for its monitoring purposes. These reports will form the basis of the Code’s annual report, which will be prepared for distribution the first quarter of each year from 2010.